The present invention pertains to protecting electronic appliances such as stereo equipment from vibration or resonance. More particularly, the invention pertains to a shelving system.
Performance of electronic audio and video equipment can be significantly affected by slight vibrational movement or resonance. This is especially true in high performance electronic audio and video equipment where even slight vibration or resonance detracts from their output. Electronic audio and video equipment can include stereo equipment, such as compact disc players, turntables, tape decks, or receivers, as well as televisions and speakers.
Electronic audio and video equipment is generally located or placed on some type of shelving unit or cabinet. The shelving unit or cabinet itself can become the source of vibration or resonance which affects the performance of the electronic equipment. The shelving or cabinet can also pick up or transfer vibration or resonance to the electronic equipment and adversely affect the output of the appliance. Vibration or resonance can be created by walking near the unit, sound waves from subwoofer speakers, jarring the shelving unit, or some other source.
Electronic audio and video equipment has previously been isolated or protected from vibration or resonance by supporting the shelving units or cabinets that the equipment is set upon with the pointed ends of a set of spikes. The ends or points of the spikes are used to contact and support individual shelves. By using the ends of the spikes to contact the shelves, the surface area of the contact point between the spike and the shelf is minimized. Minimizing the surface area of the contact point limits or minimizes the level or amount of vibration or resonance transferred to the shelf and ultimately to the piece of electronic equipment.
The spikes themselves, however, do not filter or isolate the equipment from all vibration or resonance. Rather, use of the pointed ends of the spikes significantly decreases the vibration or resonance associated with low bass signals, or signals below approximately 100 Hz, from being transferred to the piece of electronic equipment. Thus, some vibration or resonance is still transferred to the shelf and ultimately to the electronic equipment.
Further, supporting the shelves upon which the electronic equipment is set with the tips or ends of the spikes creates an unstable support system. In particular, individual shelves can easily slide laterally and ultimately fall off of the pointed spikes which are supposed to provide the shelves with support. This type of lateral movement to the shelves could be caused by bumping the shelving unit or moving a piece of electronic equipment on one shelf that is connected by wire to another piece of electronic equipment located somewhere else, such as on another shelf.
Thus, there is no system that properly isolates and provides a stable support for a piece of electronic audio or video equipment.